The Lost Potter
by ChocolateThun-Da
Summary: Same old summary
1. Chapter 1

James looked up suddenly as Lily opened the door, her face streaked with tears. He looked at her, a question in his eyes, and she nodded in response. James put his head in his hands. Lily sat down next to him to him asking, "What are we going to do?"

James looked up at her.

"We'll just have to deal with it."

"What do you mean by 'deal with it'?"

"I don't know. We better go down stairs now though other wise Sirius is going to burst with anticipation." James said.

They walked down stairs, hand in hand, and saw Sirius, Sasha, Rose, Remus and Peter sitting at a table talking quietly. As they approached Sirius looked up at them and asked, "So?"

Everybody else looked perplexed at his question but James gave a small grin and Sirius began jumping up and down happily.

"Didn't you tell them anything?" Lily asked Sirius, noticing the confused looks on everybody's face. Sirius calmed down enough to answer her.

"Huh? Oh! No. Why ruin the surprise?" He said with a smile. Sasha kicked Sirius in the knee making him collapse.

"What did you do that for?"

"Because I was bored." She answered with a shrug.

Sasha was Sirius' twin sister and they looked and acted exactly alike (though they denied it often). They both had hair blacker than midnight and dark brown eyes. Lily smiled softly and made everybody settle down.

"James and I have an announcement." She said excitedly. The initial shock of it all had finally worn off and she was all a flutter with her joy.

"Yes very important." James agreed.

"Yes it is!" Sirius agreed, hardly able to contain his happiness. Lily glared at Sirius and he quickly shut his mouth.

"I'm pregnant!" She said. Everybody jumped up and started hugging her.

"That's so great!" Rose said.

She had been Lily's best friend ever since her first day at Hogwarts. They all sat down and crowded onto the one couch that was in front of the fireplace.

"What should we name it?" Sirius asked, breaking the silence. Everybody looked at him.

"Well, if it's a boy we should name him Sirius." James said, looking at Lily for approval. She nodded reluctantly. Sirius puffed up with pride.

"If it's a girl we should name her Calla." Lily said. Everybody looked at her.

"It's a type of lily." Remus explained. "It means magnificent beauty." Lily raised her eyebrows.

"I read it in book." He said defensively.

"You read everything in a book." Sirius said.

"What's wrong with books?" Lily asked, her hands on her hips.

"Nothing." Sirius said, throwing his hands in the air. Lily rolled her eyes. Once again everything got quiet as they watched the fire die down slowly. Then it occurred to Lily that this would probably be the last time that they would get to sit here like this. It made her sad to think that it was all over. She fell asleep with this last thought in her mind.

When Lily woke up she looked around, expecting to see the common room. But she wasn't in the common room she was in the hospital wing. The clock on the bedside table read 2:08 am. Lily smiled as she saw that James was sleeping in a chair next to her bed. His hair was messier than usual and his mouth was half open. She laughed to herself, shaking her head from side to side, and gave him a quick kiss before going back to sleep.

She awoke again to the sound of two people screaming right outside the door. Lily rubbed her eyes sleepily and rolled out of bed, yawning deeply. The door was cracked open so she decided to see what was going on. When she looked through the door she saw Sasha, now with hot pink hair, and Sirius, with a gigantic nose, screaming at each other. Just then a very angry James came running down the hall, wearing a neon green mini-skirt and bright orange tank top that was easily more than 2 sizes too small. Lily was on the verge of bursting into tears from her laughter and leaned against the door for support. But when she did the door fell open making her spill into the corridor. All three of her very strange looking friends turned to see her lying flat on her back laughing hysterically.

"What are you laughing at? This is not funny!" James exclaimed, pointing to the skirt. Lily continued to laugh uncontrollably at James' attire.

"I can't believe you stole all my clothes!" He said, rounding on Sirius, who had been silent up until then.

"Why do you own a mini-skirt anyways? I was going to just going to leave it without any clothes but then I saw that outfit and I figured that I'd cut you a little slack."

"A LITTLE SLACK! You think this is a little slack! Let me tell you this is a lot less than a little slack! And I don't think that McGonagall was very pleased to see me walking down the halls in this!" Sirius started cracking up along with Lily.

"Actually," James began, with a wicked smile on his face. "I think that you're beginning to slip, Padfoot." Sirius stopped laughing immediately and got very serious very quickly.

"What do you mean?" He asked suspiciously.

"Oh nothing. Except that if I remember correctly, during our second year we stole all of Lily's clothes."

"Are you implying that I reused a prank?" Sirius said, wide-eyed. James nodded, retaining his impish smile.

"I have no reason to live." Sirius said sadly, falling to the floor.

"Thank god." Sasha mumbled from behind James. Sirius looked up at this remark and frowned. James walked over to Lily who appeared to be struggling for breath.

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked kneeling beside her. She took a few deep breaths and nodded.

"Good!" He started tickling her stomach.

"Hey! S-s-s-sto-stop ti-tic-kling me! Th-th-this ca-ca-can't be go-good for the baby!" James stopped as soon as she said that last sentence and glared at her.

"You are a very evil woman." He said slowly. Lily glared at him back and held her hand out so he could help her to her feet.

"Why was I in the hospital wing?" She asked finally.

"I don't know what happened you just didn't wake up." James explained.

"Madam Promfrey said that it was from exhaustion." Sasha said, coming up behind James.

"She also told me something else." James said, smiling.

"What did she tell you?" Lily replied slowly.

"Just something about the baby."

"What's wrong with the baby!"

"Calm down. Nothing is wrong, unless you consider it being a boy wrong, however."

"It's a boy?" Lily smiled and hugged James.

"I can't believe we're having a son. I'm having a son. I'm going to be a father. I'm going to be the father to a son who I'm going to be a father to!" James said, jumping up and down excitedly.

"So since it's a going to be a boy are you going to name it Sirius?" Sirius asked, coming up behind them.

"Yes. We'll name him Sirius." Lily said.

"Oh! You know what I just remembered?" James asked, looking at Lily.

"What?"

"We have to give our speeches since we're Headboy and Headgirl."

"WHAT! Oh my god! I completely forgot!"

"Relax. Calm down. Breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale." Sirius said making breathing motions with his hands.

"Ow!" He said as Lily hit him on the back of the head.

"Don't worry Lily. I haven't written mine either."

"But the ceremony is tonight! What am I going to do?"

"Just make it up on the spot. That's what I'm going to do."

"Okay. I think I can do that!"

"Come on. You have to pack your stuff."

James put his arm around Lily's waist and they started walking back to the common room. James and Sirius spent the whole walk arguing over something that Lily wasn't paying attention to. When they got to the common room Sasha and Lily went upstairs to their dorm while Sirius and James went to theirs. Lily and Sasha packed their stuff in silence. Talking only to share the occasional memory with one another. By the time they were done packing they were both thoroughly depressed about leaving and mostly moped around the rest of the afternoon. About an hour before the ceremony started Rose walked through the portrait hole and fell happily onto one of the cushy armchairs next to the fireplace.

"And where have you been?" Lily asked without looking up.

"I've just been walking around."

"And why are you so happy?" Sasha said, joining the conversation.

"No reason."

"Yeah right. You're smiling more than a fat kid at Thanksgiving." Both Rose and Sasha arched their eyebrows at Lily's comment.

"What?" She said defensively. Sasha shook her head and continued trying to get Rose to talk to her.

"Come on! It's our last hour at Hogwarts and your happy! There has to be something going on."

"I'm just happy! I swear!"

"What did David say to you?" Lily asked with a smile.

"He said he loved me!" Rose said, nearly falling out of the chair with happiness.

"Finally. It took him long enough. How long have you two been together? A year?"

"One year, two months, one week, three days, 15 hours, 28 minutes, 54 seconds and counting."

"Wow..."

"I know. I have no idea how long James and I have been going out."

"Oh don't I feel special!" James said, giving Lily a kiss and sitting down next to her on the sofa.

"Well you should!"

"And why is that?"

"Because you get to go out with me!"

"Of course. How could I have forgotten."

"Oh great." Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "Now they're all lovey-dovey."

"I am going to ignore that comment. Mostly because I have to go get ready. But also because I wouldn't want you to _die_ ten minutes before you graduate when you've lasted seven years. Which I still think is a miracle." Lily said, getting up and walking toward the staircase, Rose and Sasha followed quickly. About 30 minutes later the girls were dressed, had their hair done and their make-up was on. James took Lily's hand as she descended the stairs.

"You look beautiful." He whispered in her ear.

"Oh I know." She said with a smile.

"Oh so modest." They walked got down to the Great Hall just as everybody was getting seated. The four house tables had been replaced with many rows of chairs. James and Lily walked to the front row where they had two seats saved for them. Professor Dumbledore called attention to the room as they sat down.

"Everybody settle down. Settle down." Everybody got quiet and sat down. He cleared his throat. "I have seen all of you progress over your seven years here from little first years. Most of you have matured over the time." He said this with a glance in Sirius' direction. "I do this every year and every year I have to say goodbye to another class of wonderful witches and wizards. So as I am getting teary-eyed I'll now introduce our Head girl Lily Evans and Head boy James Potter." Every applauded as Lily walked up to the podium to begin her speech.

"It has been seven long years since I first stepped off the Hogwarts Express. And it has been one wild ride. We've all been through pain and happiness here at Hogwarts. A lot of memories reside in the walls of this castle. A lot of tears, whether of joy or sadness. And no matter what we said when we were younger. I know that I'll miss it." With that she stepped down, giving James a hug as he passed by her.

"I've done a lot of things here at Hogwarts. I've made some of the best friends a guy could ever hope for. I never paid attention in class and yet I always managed to pass them somehow. I remember how I couldn't wait to get out. But now that I'm standing up here I'm realizing that I shouldn't have been in such a hurry to get it over with. Now we're going to be in the real world. With real people. People who don't care how good you're grades were or if you were the most popular person in school. And though it will be hard I hope that I won't have to do it alone." He walked away from the podium and over to Lily and took her hand. "Lily. You've been with me through all my times, good or bad, and I'm hoping that you'll always be with me." He slowly went down on one knee and pulled a small, blue box out of his jacket pocket and opened it to reveal a sapphire and diamond ring.

"Lily, will you marry me?"

Everybody in the Great Hall was staring at Lily, listening for her answer. She slowly smiled and wiped a tear from her eye as she said,  
"What would you do if I said 'no'? James was taken aback. This was the last thing he expected. He looked around. By this time everybody was on the edge of their seats, listening intently.  
"Well, I'd probably stay at home and live off of cheetos and orange juice for awhile and then I'd take to stalking you just so I could catch a glimpse of your beautiful face." He said thoughtfully.  
"That was a very creative and flattering answer…" She said, clearly trying to drive James crazy with anticipation. James was still on one knee holding out a ring. Lily paused a second.  
"Yes!" She screamed, jumping into his arms, "I would love to marry you." James kissed her and put the ring on her finger. Everybody, except for the Slytherins, started clapping. As applause died down Professor Dumbledore began reading off names. Lily stepped through a door behind the stage and was immediately hugged by both Sasha and Sirius.   
"Congratulations! I can't believe you and James are getting married." Sasha said excitedly.  
"I can. James has been raving to me about marrying you since the say he first set eyes on you. I nearly went deaf listening to him!"

"My mom is going to be so happy when she hears." James said. Lily was holding her hand up, trying to catch the glint of the moonlight through her ring.

"I wish I could say the same about mine." She said, not taking her eyes off of the ring.

"Somehow I think she'd marry him just so she could keep the ring." Sirius whispered to Remus who smiled while dodging a book that Lily had thrown at them. She glared at them and scooted over so she was sitting on James' lap before thoughtfully saying.

"We should set a date."

"Ok. How about June."

"That's next month!"

"Yeah can't wait for the Honeymoon can you Prongsie?" Sirius said suggestively.

"She's pregnant Sirius, I don't think that it's going to be anything new." Sasha said, rolling her eyes and returning to looking at dress catalogue she had conjured.

"No seriously." Lily said with a small smile.

"Ok, I'm serious. What about...hmmm...December?"

"A winter wedding? I like that."

"Wow. Lily actually let James make a decision. You better savor this moment Prongs. You may not get many of them anymore."

"You're right Padfoot. I'm attaching the old ball and chain-"

"Hem hem."

"The young hot ball and chain." James corrected, making Lily smile and give him a kiss.

"Ugh!" Sirius exclaimed. "You know I don't have a problem with PDA, just as long as its over there." Waving his hands out the door to emphasis his point. James looked up and glared at him.

"You always have to ruin the moment, don't you?"

"If I didn't I wouldn't be your best friend. And speaking of best friends. Who is going to be your best man? Hint hint me."

"Of course you're going to be my best man. Of course Remus would be my other one."

"But I will have to ask you to refrain from any inappropriate gestures, phrases, language, or the spiking of any drinks."

"Ah Lilz, you're such a buzz-kill."

"First of all don't call me Lilz or you won't be able to have kids if you ever get married." Sirius flinched at this obvious reference to bodily harm. "And second I certainly hope that you're not buzzed at my wedding."

"What happened to the Lily that helped me paint James face while he was sleeping so that he looked like a clown?"

"That was you!"

"So what do you want to do now that we're out of Hogwarts James?" Lily asked evasively.

"Well I don't know. I was thinking about being an Auror. What about you Lily? Nice change of topic by the way."

"I think that I want to be a muggle kindergarten teacher. And thank you very much." James sprayed cauldron cake all over the compartment at her response.

"A MUGGLE TEACHER!"

"Well yes."

"WHY IN HEAVEN'S NAME WOULD YOU WANT TO BE A TEACHER?"

"James, lower your voice."

"But Lily!"

"James."

"Okay I'm calm."

"Good. You can talk now."

"Lily why would you want to be a muggle teacher?"

"Because I love kids."

"Well you're pregnant. Why can't you just stay home and take care of little Sirius?"

"So you just expect me to be pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen?"

"Well of course not! I'd let you wear shoes." At this response Lily crossed her arms across her chest, scooted over as far away from James as she could and ignored him the rest of the train ride.

Lily grabbed her trunk and walked determinedly off of the train, leaving James and everybody else to try and catch up with her. They reached her just as she was getting into a cab.

"Lily wait!" James said as he grabbed her arm to stop her. "Where are you going?"

"To my sister's house. Let go of my arm!" She yanked her arm away and continued to get into the cab.

"Don't you think you're over-reacting a little bit?"

"Over-reacting! How about I tell you that you have to stay home all day, cook, and be pregnant and then lets see who is over-reacting!"

"Lily that's not what I meant! You misunderstood me!"

"Yeah well misunderstand this." Lily took the ring from her finger and threw it at him. James stood stunned as he watched Lily drive away.

"Oh my god." Sirius said as he picked the ring up off the ground.

"I'll call a cab!" Sasha said.

"Are you going to be okay?" Remus asked, waving a hand in front of James' face.

"Okay? OKAY? The love of my life throws a 100 Galleon _engagement_ ring at me and you want to know if I'm okay?"

"I'll take that as a 'no'" Rose whispered to Sasha as a cab pulled up. They pushed James into the cab.

Lily knocked on the door very reluctantly. She hadn't spoken to her sister for at least 3 years, with good reason too. Petunia greatly disapproved of anything that wasn't normal and by her standards Lily wasn't normal. Petunia opened the door, wiping her hands on an apron.

"What do you want?" She said, glaring.

"I need someplace to stay."

"Why don't you go stay with that Potter boy? I'm sure you'd be more comfortable." At the mention of James, Lily burst into tears.

"Oh. So he finally got rid of you then?" Petunia said with a sneer. "Well, I always knew this day would come. Come in." Lily leaned up against her sister for support as they walked into the living room.

"I'll go make some tea." Petunia said, she got up and walked to the kithen. Lily sat down on the couch and immediately started bawling into a pillow.

"Oh no! You'll ruin that pillow!" Petunia said as she sat down the tray of tea and took the pillow from her. Lily looked up at her, her eyes were red and puffy.

"I'm not very thirsty, Petty. I think I'm just going to go to sleep." She stood up and walked upstairs, searching for the guest room. When she found it she collapsed onto the bed and cried herself to sleep.

"LILY! LILY! Come on Lily, open up!" James was pounding on the door with both fists.

"Uh...James..." Sirius said, tapping James on the shoulder.

"Not now Sirius! LILY! LILY! LILY! LIL-" James stopped midsentence as a somebody opened the door, only it wasn't Lily.

"Ummm... Excuse me, is Lily here?" He asked politely.

"There is nobody named Lily here now would you please stop trying to break down my door." And with that she slammed the door in his face.

"I was trying to tell you, we're supposed to be next door." Sirius explained. James ran to the next house and started pounding on their door and screaming. Thankfully, Petunia answered the door quickly.

"Oh. It's you."

"I missed you too Petunia. Is Lily here?"

"Yes but-" She began. James pushed past her.

"Lily! Lily where are you?" He screamed, opening all the doors along the hallway.

"Stop yelling Petty!" Lily said as she stepped out of the room rubbing her eyes.

"Oh my god Lily! I'm so glad I found you!" James ran up to Lily and hugged her tightly around the legs.

"James? What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you."

"I didn't want you to find me." Lily said, prying James' arms off of her legs and walking into the bathroom.

"Lily pl-" She slammed the door in his face.

"Second time that's happened today." He muttered to himself. "Come on Lily! Open up!" He started pounding on the door.

"I'm just washing my face. Don't have a coronary. On second thought go ahead and have one. That would solve this problem nicely."

"Hey! I heard that!"

"I know you did." Lily opened the door. "Now. What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk about what just happened but I don't want to talk about it here."

"You don't? Well right now you don't have much of a choice so either talk to get out. I don't care much either way."

"Okay fine. Lily I was stupid to say what I said. I don't care if you decide that you want to live a completely muggle lifestyle and cast magic out of your life. I'd still want to spend the rest of my life with you. I was just surprised. And I wi-" James got cut off as Lily kissed him.

"So does this mean you forgive me?" He asked, breaking away. Lily smiled and nodded.

"Can I have my ring back?"

"The ring? Oh my god! THE RING! I left the ring at King's Cross!"

"No you didn't. I picked it up. I'm surprised you didn't notice before now." Sirius passed him the ring. James kneeled down (for the second time that day).

"Lily, will you marry me?"

"Of course I will." James slipped the ring on her finger (again for the second time) and for a moment they just looked into each other's eyes (A/N: awwwwww! how romantic!), but then Petunia broke the silence.

"Get out! Get out of my house!" She shooed them from the house, whipping her apron at them as walked. "Lily, I've told you once and I'll tell you again. That Potter boy will be the end of you. But don't come crying to me when he drops you to go off with some blonde bimbo."

"Good bye Petty."

"Yes, good bye Petunia. We won't miss you." Petunia scowled at them and closed the door.

"Okay! So now that we've gotten rid of her! I think that we should head toward your house first then we can go to mine." James said, looking at Lily for approval.

"Well I guess that we'll just go home then." Sirius said with mock annoyance.

"Okay. We were going to have a party at my house but whatever." James said in an off-handed tone.

"Well since you put it that way we'll meet you there!" James laughed and nodded.

"Sure. Tell my parents we'll be there in a few minutes with some good news."

"Righto." Sirius, Rose, Sasha, and Remus all apparated to James' home while Lily and James went to Lily's.

James and Lily appeared suddenly in the middle of the living room at the Evans' home.

"MUM! I'M HOME!" Lily screamed.

"I think I've gone deaf." James said, rubbing his ear.

"Shut up."

"Lily!" Angelica Evans said as she came down the stairs. "Oh how I missed you!"

"I missed you so much, Mum I have...er...news..." Lily said, nervously taking her mother's hands.

"Dear? Is everything okay?" Lily led her to the sofa and motioned for her to sit down.

"Well, um...James...and I...are sorta...well were kinda-"

"We're engaged!" James exclaimed, taking Lily's hand and sitting down next to her.

"Well that's great! Oh I'm so excited! How wonderful!"

"Um...We have something else to tell you..."

"Oh more good news!"

"Yes, well...I'm...well that is to say _we_ are going...we're going to...um..." Lily stopped midsentence and ran suddenly to the bathroom. Lily could be heard retching.

"Is she sick?" Angelica asked James concernedly.

"Oh no. She just gets her morning sickness in evening." James' eyes widened when he realized what he said, as did Angelica's. Just then Lily walked back into the living room.

"Oh I'm so sorry mother. I'm just not feeling very well lately."

"Oh don't worry. It only lasts nine months!" She said coldly. Lily's eyes widened to about the same size as James'.

"You're pregnant! I'm absolutely appalled! And let me guess! You don't know who the father is!" Lily was completely shocked by the way her mother had taken to news.

"Of course I know who the father is!" She said indignantly. "James is the father!" But she realized the second she uttered those words that it wasn't the right thing to say. Her mother appeared to be swelling up. Then she turned on James.

"You got...my daughter...PREGNANT! Why I've never been more outraged in my life!" Then she turned back to Lily. "I want you OUT!"

"What?"

"You heard me! I want you out of my house! You...you ! Pack your bags and be gone!" She grabbed Lily and dragged her by the arm to her room and started throwing all of her things into a very large suitcase.

"Don't bother, _Mother_, I'll get it." Lily said through tears, she waved her wand and every thing in the room zipped into the suitcase and with another wave the bag shrunk. Lily picked it up, put it in her purse and left the room. James looked at Angelica and shook his head in disgust before following Lily. They apparated together to James' house. The second they landed in the entryway Lily collapsed against James. They fell to the floor, Lily crying her eyes out onto James' shoulder. James just put his arms around her.

"It's okay. It'll be okay." He said soothingly. Lily looked up at him.

"But where will I live?"

"You'll just stay here for awhile. God knows we have enough room." Lily gave a small smile and wiped her eyes.

"I love you James."

"I love you too Lily." James helped her to her feet and kissed her on her forehead.

"You've been crying a lot today."

"Yeah, between you and my mother, and I use that term loosely, I'm probably dangerously dehydrated."

Sirius fell to his knees and began kissing the ground when he saw James and Lily walk through the door.

"Thank _god_ you two are here! Your mother refused to give us food until you arrived! What took you so long!" James rolled his eyes.

"We got sidetracked when Lily's mother went into a towering rage and threw Lily out of the house so we had to pack her things and then we spent about 5 minutes sitting just behind those doors talking randomly and wondering how hungry you were."

"5 minutes! I could've died of starvation! Have you no consideration!"

"Sirius, considering the fact that you ate out the whole food cart on the train ride, leaving about 5 cauldron cakes and a pumpkin pastie for us if I may add, I highly doubt that you would've died. Besides I think that a little lost weight would actually do you some good." Lily said, patting Sirius' stomach for emphasis.

"Yeah? Well give it 8 months and you'll be wishing that you had my figure."

"MUM! DAD! We're here!" James said quickly, trying to avoid a fight.

"James! Lily! Good thing you're here. Every 2 minutes Sirius would scream wildly about hunger pains and swear that he was dying."

"I thought it was quite humorous."

"Of course you did."

"Hey Mrs. Potter. Hey Mr. Potter. James, do you think I'm fat?" Lily said, poking her stomach. James looked at Mr. Potter who was shaking his head vigorously, his eyes very wide.

"No. Of course you're not fat."

"You hesitated. You think I'm fat don't you!"

"No no! You are a far cry from fat my dear!"

"Don't try and 'my dear' yourself out of this one! You think I'm fat!" James looked around wildly for any type of answer to his problem.

"I swear that you are not fat."

"I don't believe you." James sighed.

"Lily, my dear, honey, sweety, love of my life, queen of all that is dear to me. I do not. Under any circumstances. Think that you are fat, ugly, mis-shapen, or imperfect in any way, shape, or form. In fact, I think that you are _so_ perfect that if anyone told me otherwise I wouldn't believe them even if that person were the most honest person in the world."

"Oh James." Lily said quietly. "Do you really think that I'm not fat?" Everybody in the room sighed exasperatedly and headed towards the kitchen.

"What?"

Everybody migrated to the kitchen where Cordelia had set out some many plates of food even Sirius couldn't have eaten all of them.

"You've out done yourself once again, Cordelia." Sasha said, grabbing a mini beef taquito off of the nearest plate. "Yum...Spicy."

"Prongs I thought you said this was going to be a party?" Remus asked, randomly picking up a small cup of jell-o, smelling it, and then putting it back among the others. "Where is everybody else?"

"They'll be here in about half an hour. The whole of our graduating class, minus the slytherins, was invited so I figure we won't have trouble with people coming. Meanwhile Lily and I have to talk to my parents."

"Okay, We'll just continue eating. What is in this jell-o!"

"Just some vodka, Moony."

"Oh. I see. I'd try your best not to take too many of those. You and Lily don't need another kid."

"That was uncalled for!"

"What's this about James and Lily having a kid?" Cordelia asked happily as she did some last minute tidying. James shot Remus an annoyed look calling Lily over and turning to his mother.

"Well Lily and I have some news but we'd prefer to tell you in the other room."

"Okay, I'll get your father. Harold!"

"I didn't do it!"

"I didn't say you did anything! Come here! Lily and James want to talk to us!"

"I'm coming!" A few seconds later he appeared in the kitchen.

"Harold James Potter. Please tell me that you didn't apparate across the house."

"Of course I didn't!"

"Oh really?"

"Okay, fine I did."

"What am I going to do with you!"

"Mum?"

"Yes?"

"Hey! Lily and I still need to talk to you."

"Oh yes!" They went into the now empty living room and sat down.

"Well first of all I've recently asked Lily a very important question-"

"Twice"

"Yes twice. But anyways the point is that we're getting married."

"Oh how great!"

"How wonderful!" Lily looked at James nervously, remembering how those words had come from her mother's mouth minutes before she had ordered her from the house.

"Yes, well, there was something else that was kind of the reason I asked so soon." James looked at Lily and took her hand in his. She took a deep breathe and decided just to go for it.

"I'm pregnant." She shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the name-calling and kicking out to begin. After a few seconds of silence Lily cracked open her eyes ever so slightly, and then opened them all the way. What she saw was very unexpected. They were smiling.

"We're going to be grand-parents?" Cordelia asked quietly.

"Why did you have to ask her to marry you twice?" James' father asked. James and Lily looked at each other.

"It's a long story." They said simultaneously.

"I'm going to be a grandma!" Cordelia said happily as she started to cry. Harold rolled his eyes and turned to Lily.

"So do you know what its going to be?"

"A human I hope." Lily said, putting her finger on her chin and staring into the distance thoughtfully.

"Its a boy."

"A grandson! How marvelous!"

"Yes it is da-" James was cut off by Remus as he entered the room.

"If you guys are done, everybody is getting here." James and Lily stood and walked into the ballroom hand-in-hand, followed closely by Cordelia who had to be led into the room by James' father because she was still crying. The night went by reasonably quickly and next thing Lily knew she was collapsing into bed next to James.

"Well, that went well."

"Yes it did. I'll have to ask Sirius what he did to make that cushion follow me around. Apparently he was either worried about me falling or he was very bored."

"I think he was just bor-" James stopped speaking as he turned over to see Lily asleep. He smiled softly and gave her a kiss on the cheek before going to sleep.

The next morning Lily awoke to find that James had already gotten up. She stretched lazily and turned to look out the window only to see a tall woman looking at her. Lily lay speechless as they stared at each other. Suddenly she found her voice.

"JAMES! JAMES COME QUICKLY!" The women sighed exasperatedly and quickly covered Lily's mouth.

"Will you be quiet for the love of God! I'm not going to hurt you! I've come to help you." Lily stopped struggling as she heard loud footsteps coming up the stairs. She looked at the door and then back at the woman, but she wasn't there. James burst through the door, followed immediately by Sirius and Remus, all of them holding their wands high.

"Stay away from her you little-" James stopped mid-sentence when he saw that it was only Lily in the room. Remus lowered his wand, looked around and left the room followed by a disappointed Sirius.

"What were you screaming about?" He said as he sat down next to Lily on the bed.

"Um I...had a bad dream?"

"It sounded like someone was murdering you."

"It was a really bad dream."

"Tell me about this so-called dream of yours."

"You were...being...trampled by rampaging hippogriffs! Yes, that's it!"

"Oh that's terrible.

"Yes it was awful."

"Well you must be hungry after such an awful dream."

"Just a little bit."

"Mom has made a picnic, we were planning on going to the park."

"For breakfast?"

"No, for lunch."

"What happened to breakfast?"

"You slept through breakfast."

"Oh I see. I'll just get dressed then." Lily got dressed about as quickly as she could and ran down stairs. She found Rose, Sasha, Remus, and Sirius sitting in the living room talking merrily. Lily looked around the room and asked,

"Where's James?"

"Behind you." They all answered and returned to their conversation. Lily turned around and saw James standing behind her.

"Why were you standing behind?"

"I was going to scare you but _somebody _ruined it." He said, raising his voice slightly at the last three words. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, I assume that the basket is in the kitchen."

"Sure is."

"I'll go grab it if you go get a blanket."

"Ok." They separated and met in the entryway, Lily carrying the basket, James and carrying a blanket, and Sirius carrying Rose. Lily looked at Sirius with an expression of bewilderment.

"Why are you carrying her?"

"She tripped and hurt her ankle." Sirius answered, as if that was the only explanation.

"James, why don't you every carry me!"

"Because you never hurt your ankle."

"I should be more clumsy." James opened the front door pushed Lily out, followed quickly by the others. They got to the park and settled in next to a small pond. James put the blanket on the ground and they all sat and started digging in to the basket.

"Your mum makes the best sandwiches James." Sirius said, his mouth still full.

"I know." They all talked for about another half an hour until they had eaten their fill.

"So who's up for a game of volleyball!" Rose exclaimed with a smile.

"What about your ankle?"

"Oh! I said that so that I wouldn't have to walk." Sirius pushed her over.

"So how about that game of volleyball?"

"Sure." Sasha conjured a ball and started playing with James, Sirius, Rose, and Remus. Lily sat aside and decided to watch them play.

"So what do you want now?" She said suddenly to the woman behind her.

"How did you know I was there?"

"I have a sixth sense. Now who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm your great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother Rose."

"With that many great's shouldn't you be dead by now?"

"I was dead. I've been sent to warn you."

"Oh really? Warn me about what?"

"You can't marry James." Lily shook her head in disbelief.

"What do you mean 'I can't marry James'"

"I meant just what I said. You can't marry him. You must take your child and go far, far away."

"But why? I don't understand!"

"You will in time my dear. Now I must go. I'll meet you tonight. You must not mention this to anybody."And with that she was gone. Lily looked around frantically, but nobody else seemed to have noticed that a woman had just dissapeared. At that moment James came up. Lily put on a fake smile and acted as if nothing was wrong and the afternoon was soon over and giving way to night. They all walked back to the house, exhausted, weary, but happy. After everybody left Lily excaped to the library where she sat in her favorite chair and looked out the window, thinking. James entered very quietly, trying not to interrupt her but he hit his foot on a chair leg and swore loudly. Lily looked up suddenly.

"I'm sorry, you looked so peaceful I didn't want to disturb you. I just needed to grab a book." Lily nodded and looked back out the window.

"I something wrong?" James walked asked, walking closer to her.

"No, sweetheart. I'm fine. I just need to think about some things."

"Do you need to talk about it?"

"No, I'll be fine."

"Ok. I'll be in upstairs if you need me." He went to the shelf and grabbed a book quickly and made his way to the door but stopped.

"Lily?"

"Yes, James." She turned around to face him.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." Lily watched him leave and turned back to look back out the window as the door shut with a soft click.

"Why me?" She said softly.

"Because you haven been chosen." Rose answered, appearing next to her.

"But why _me_? Why not someone else!"

"Lily, calm down. I'm going to tell you something. But you're not going to like it." Lily nodded solemnly for her to proceed.

"A long long time ago, when I was just a child there was a great seer. She prophesized that one day a great evil would descend upon the land. It would destroy many lives and could only be stopped by a love that could equal its hatred. I made took no notice of it at the for for I was only a child but many, many, _many_ years later, after I had dies and been buried as I was watching you and James, I remembered what that old seer had said. 'a love that could equal its hatred'. I pushed it from my mind as I watched you grow-up. It wasn't until I saw you tell James that you were pregnant that I remembered again. After seeing James reaction, the look of pure happiness that spread across his face, that I realized what was going to happen to you. As it were I went to visit that old seer." Lily gave her a strange look. "What? You don't think that you can visit other people when you are dead? Anyways. I went to visit her and asked her about the two people who would save the world from darkness. And she said, "I know what you are thinking. And you are correct. Lily and James will save us. Or rather their child will. They will sacrifice their lives for the lives of others. An act so unselfish, so full of love that it could defeat any foe." Having confirmed my suspicions I made a decision. I was not going to let this happen to you. So I began watching you constantly until saw the most opportune to come to you. And well, you know that rest. So you see, you can't marry James. You'd be putting both of your lives in great danger." Lily stayed silent during this whole explanation. She was shocked. Her child was supposed to save to world?

"But his makes no sense."

"But it makes perfect sense. If you don't marry James then you will not have the child together and the dark one will never come for you and James will never die for you. You must do it for James." Lily nodded.

"For James."

"Now go to bed." Lily followed her command and walked silently to the bedroom. As she opened the door she saw James, sleeping peacefully, and she knew what she had to do. She quickly gathered her belongings and scribbled a small note. She put the note on her pillow next to James, then slowly took off the ring as placed it on top and walked down stairs quietly. She closed the front door quietly and walked as quickly as she could, stopping for a small moment to look up at the house one last time.

James woke up the next morning and looked next to him expecting to see Lily but instead seeing a small piece of paper in her place. He sat up, supporting his weight on his elbow, and picked up the note. He read it once and then picked up the ring. He read the note over and over again. It said only two words.

_I'm sorry_

James was confused. He jumped out of bed and pulled a shirt over his head, running down stairs he ran to the kitchen and found Sirius sitting at the table eating breakfast.

"Read this." He said, shoving the note in front of Sirius.

"What? No 'Good morning Sirius.' 'So nice to see you.'?"

"Just read it!"

"Fine Fine! Don't get your knickers in a bunch!" Sirius read the note quickly (A/N: considering it was only two words I'd be surprised if he took a long time.) and then stared at James.

"What does it mean!" James said, a hint of annoyance on his voice.

"I don't know."

"Well where did she go!"

"I don't know"

"Grrrrr... Do you know anything!"

"I don't know."

"Grrrr...!"

"Don't get angry at me! I didn't scare her away!"

"I did not scare her away!"

"Then where is she?"

"I am not having this argument with you right now! I have to go find Lily!"

"Fine!"  
"Fine!"

"Where am I going to look for her!" Sirius sighed.

"Okay. Let's think for a second. Where is the last place Lily would go?" They thought for a second and then James face brightened.

"I've got it! France! She hates France!"

"You can't be serious."

"I swear to god. She hates France."

"Why does she hate France?"

"Okay not the time! She'll probably be sitting at that cafe by the Eiffel Tower!"

"How do you know that?"

"Because that was where her mother decided that it would be nice to tell Lily that her father had died." James explained quickly. Okay just apparate to the Eifell Tower. They appeared suddenly amidst a crowd of people.

"Okay follow me!" James yelled over the noise of the crowd. He pushed his way through the crowd until they had made their way to the street. James pointed across the street to a small cafe. They crossed the street and entered the cafe. James face fell as he looked around, Lily wasn't there. He slumped down in chair and rested his face in his hands.

"James?" Sirius interrupted his self-pity after a few minutes.

"Leave me alone Sirius. I just want to sit here and wallow in my self-pity."

"I understand that James, and normally I would let you but you have to get up!" James looked up just in time to see a small redhead run out the door.

James jumped up and ran out the door at full speed and caught Lily by the wrist as she was about to run across the street.

"Lily wait!" He commanded. Lily turned around slowly and looked at James, her eyes pleading with him silently.

"Just let me go James." She said as she pulled at her arm.

"No! I'm not letting you leave until you tell me what is going on!" He tightened his grip.

"I can't tell you. You'd think I was crazy."

"You're pretty much running that risk either way Lily!"

"Stop yelling at me!"

"LILLIAN ISABELLE EVANS! You tell me why you left this instant!" People all around them turned to watch as they fought.

"James just leave me alone!" A man walked up to Lily and lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"Is he bothering you?" She looked between him and James and nodded silently. James let go of her wrist quickly and let his hand fall to his side. Lily turned around and let the man lead her away, but had only taken a few steps when James yelled, "Where are you going Lily? Why won't you talk to me? You can't go! I love you!" Lily looked in James' eyes, they were filled with pain, fear, and frustration, she knew what she had to do. "I DON'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE!" Lily's eyes filled with tears when she said these words. She knew that they hurt him so deeply but she had to let him go if he was to ever move on. James whole body stiffened. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a ring. He looked at it for a few seconds then looked at Lily. Covering the space between them quickly he picked up her hand and gently placed the ring in it.

"I'll be waiting." He said quietly and walked away. The man standing next to Lily looked confused but put his arm around Lily's shoulders and walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

The next three months were Hell for both Lily and James. Lily generally spent her days in a small apartment thinking abour James. The fact that she hadn't taken the ring off of her finger since that day hadn't helped. She found that she could shop her thoughts away but her bank account was starting to run dry. The only other time she left the apartment was when she needed food or fresh air. But this wasn't very often because she soon found out that guys would still hit on her despite the fact that her belly was just beginning to show and she was wearing the ring on her left hand. The thought of going back to James was soon running through her mind but every time it did Grandma Rose, as Lily had come to call her, would show up and remind her why she had run away in the first place. And so Lily stayed.

James was no better off than Lily. He moped around the house miserably, even Quidditch couldn't cheer him up, so he found himself looking out the front window restlessly, hoping that one day Lily would come back. Sirius had no luck getting him to date, talk to, or even look at other women and he soon started to curse Lily for making James the way he was. James would only leave his spot to eat meals and that was only because his mother refused to serve him when he wasn't at the table. Every night he slept in the chair that was by the window which was exetremely uncomfortable and only allowed James to sleep for about an hour at a time causing him to be irritable and achy all the next day. As it turned out, that was Lily's favorite chair to read in on a sunny day. Remembering this caused James to sit down in the chair opposite it and stare at the spot for hours at a time, alternating between staring out the window and at the chair.

"GET UP" Remus screamed at him when he came to visit one day. "You've been staring out the window for three months now! She isn't coming back"

"She's going to come back"

"No she isn't! She's gone! Now stop moping around the house like a three-year-old" Remus attempted to pull James from his post by the window. It now had finger-prints and face marks all over it from all the times James would press his face against it as somebody walked by.

"Just leave me alone"

"I can't let you do this! You're throwing your life away! All because of some girl"

"She's not just some girl"

"Yes she is! And I'm not going to just stand by and watch as you wither away waiting for her to come back"

"Just leave me alone Remus! I know very well what I'm doing and I think that I'm old enough to determine what is good for me"

"Well obviously not! Good god James! You're wasting away! Do you even care that you're alienating all of your friends? Or family? Lily wasn't the only one the cared about you! So stop acting like somebody shoot your dog! You're in mourning for somebody who isn't even dead"

"You don't understand! She was my best friend! She was the one person who... I don't know how to explain it. It's like... she was the one person that I could tell everything to. Everything. And I knew that if I told her something that she wasn't going to laugh at me. You don't have any idea what it's like to lose someone like that" There was a moment of silence before anybody spoke again.

"Sure I do. I'm losing you." He said quietly. James stood up, asshamed of himself, and nodded slowly before giving giving a small smile that Remus returned.

"I'm going to go wash away my laziness" James said excitedly.

"Okay. You have fun with that." Remus walked into the next room where Sirius was listening intently at the door.

"I told you I could do it." Remus said with a self-satisfied smile.

"Okay. You were right. I was wrong. You're smart. I'm dumb. You are the King of all the known Universe. And I am a lowly worm that has died and decomposed." Sirius repeated unenthusiastically.

"I'm glad to hear that you've changed your look on life, Sirius." Both boys turned around to see where the voice was coming from but they didn't like what they saw.

"Lily" Sirius asked skeptically

"Yeah."

"Oh crap." Remus took his head in his hand and started massaging his temples.

"This is just great."

"Well, I'm glad to see that _I_ was well missed." Lily said sarcastically.

"What are you doing here"

"I came to visit."

"James is going to go into relapse."

"Relapse" Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Relapse."

"For the last three months all James did was look out the window and wait for you to come back"

"It's taken all of our energy to finally get him to move on! You can't be back"

"Well I am"

"Grrr..."

"You know it's funny, when you do that you sound just like"

"James"

"Yes"

"No! James is coming! You have to hide"

"WHAT"

"Shhhhhhh...! get in the cupboard! Quickly" Sirius pushed Lily into the cupboard and shut the door just as James walked in. He looked around for a second with a confused look on his face.

"Was somebody else just in here"

"No" They both answered quickly.

"Hm. That's strange I could've sworn I heard somebody else talking. I'm hungry." James walked over to the counter and took a banana out of the fruit basket.

"What else is new" Remus asked sarcastically.

"Where's Peter? I haven't seen him in awhile.

"I don't know. Now that you mention it I haven't seen him in awhile either."

"Strange." James threw away his banana peel and stood on the spot for a few seconds. "I'm still hungry" He said, heading for the pantry.

"NO" Remus blocked the pantry and quickly led James away from it.

"What is wrong with you guys? You've been acting very strange."

"That coming from the guy qho sat by a window for three months"

"Good point."

"That's what I thought."

"So tell me what's been going on. I haven't really been paying attention to anything."

"Go figure." Lily scoffed from inside the pantry. James turned around quickly.

"What was that noise? It sounded like it was coming from the cupboard."

"Oh it was nothing! Sirius has just been coughing all day." They turned toward Sirius and looked at him. Sirius coughed as best he could which wasn't that good and not very realistic.

"That sounded like a chihuahua growling." James said flatly. The comment made Lily giggle and James turn toward the pantry once again.

"I swear that I hear something coming from in there"

"No you don't! It was just Sirius again! COUGH SIRIUS" Sirius gave another chihuahua cough.

"Okay I don't know what is wrong with you guys but it had something to do with this pantry" Remus and Sirius scrambled over the table in the middle of the kitchen in an attempt to get to James before he got to the pantry but they didn't make it and before they could stop him James had opened the door.

"Lily" Lily stood there, feeling slightly in the limelight.

"Um. Yeah. Hi, James." They all stood in silence. Remus and Sirius laying strangely on the table. All of them staring at Lily. After a few minutes Lily started to get slightly bored and decided to break the creepy silence by clearing her throat loudly.

"Hem, hem" James snapped back to life.

"Lily? Is it really you"

"Yes, James. It's really me." Lily was nervous and not quite sure if it was a good idea for her to come back.

"What are you doing here" James said, but in a slightly more excited voice than when Sirius had asked her the same question earlier.

"I decided to come back." James looked so happy that he could have dies right there on the spot. He ran forward and strted hugging Lilly.

"Oh Lily! I missed you so much! You ahve no idea! Oh look at the baby! I'm so excited! You have no idea! This last three months have been torture! Have you been okay? Have you eaten well? Has the baby kicked yet? Oh I can't believe you're back" James jumped up and down and spoke very rapidly. In fact, Lily had no idea what he had just said ,at all.

"James. Calm down." But he took no notice. "James! JAMES"

He stopped jumping and looked at her, his face still showing that expression of sheer ectasy.

"Yes, m'dear" He quickly ran over to her and took her hand. He looked about ready to jump off a cliff if she told him to.

"Oh dear James. Dear, sweet James. What have I done to you" She took his face in her hands, which was difficult because he was at least a foot taller than she was. James frowned at this comment and refelcted back over the last three months. Over all the agony and pain and waiting. And he stepped back from her.

"You've put me through so much."

"I'm so sorry. I can't begin to tell you why I had to do it. I knew that you would be miserable but I thought that you would get over sooner or later and that you would move on.

"But I didn't. I just sat there waiting for you to come back. I missed you so much. I still loved you."

"I still love you, James. I always have and always will. For forever and a day. Do you remember" James nodded. Of course he remembered. He remembered the first time he had said those words to her. 'For forever and a day.' He remembered them all too clearly and he had meant it then. But did he still mean it.

"Yes." He answered his question out loud. "I think you owe me an explanation, Lily." Lily nodded and sighed.

"I guess I do. But it's a long story so let's go sit down." She led the way into the living room where she sat down in her favorite chair. She noticed that the cushions were indented from where James had sat in it staring out the window and it brought a tear to her eye that she had caused him such pain. She looked up and saw that they were all staring at her intently. She sighed a long, deep sigh and began her story.

"So let me get this straight." James said as Lily finished. "This creepy old dead chick comes to you and says you can't marry me because if you do some all powerful widard wizard is going to come and kill us both. So she convinces you to run away and live your life in seclusion"

"I'm not _completely_ crazy, you know. I'm more like...a few crazy points below Sirius."

"I resent that."

"You would."

"I would not"

"You just said that you do"

"Yeah but I don't"

"OKAY ENOUGH" James settled the dispute quickly, making Sirius and Remus retreat upstairs. "Why did you come back Lily"

"Because I realized that you never were the type to just let go. And that I was probably putting you through Hell by staying away. That and I didn't want our child to grow up father-less just because some 'creepy dead chick' said that some 'all powerful dark wizard would come and kill both of us'. Is that a good enough answer"

"Yup" James was a lot happier knowing that Lily had come back of her own accord. "Okay for the next question! Do you still want to get married"

"Do you"

"You're not pull'n that on me. I asked first" Lily laughed. Still the same old James.

"Fine. Yes, I still want to get married."

"Okay good." And he kissed her. "You know." He said as they pulled apart. "That's the second time that you've tried to jilt me."

"I don't think it counts as a jilt unless we're actually at the alter." Lily said, standing up and taking James' hand.

"Okay but I should probably start handcuffing you to me just to make sure that you run off again." James said playfully.

"Not on your life. I'm hungry. I need some Oreos."

"Oreos? But you hate chocolate cookies."

"So what? I'm craving Oreos."

"Good lord."

"Oh shut up. How about we go for a walk down to the grocery store and then you can by me some Oreos"

"Do we have to" James whines in his best two-year-old voice.

"Yes."She said, leading him out the door.

"Fine. But let's get some ice cream too."

"Okay we can get ice cream but only if its chocolate chip cookie dough."

"What is up with you and chocolate"

"I don't know. OH! Thinking of which! Where do we stand on me being a teacher" James sighed.

"Whatever makes you happy, my dear Lillian." Lily beamed and gave James a peck on the cheek.

"Your the sweetest. Not that it would have mattered if you had said 'no'."

"I know. You're too wild for me to tame."

"I feel like a horse."

"I feel like a deer"

"Well deer season _is_ approaching..."

"I'll just have to be extra careful than won't I" They talked randomly as they walked, drawing curious glances from the people around them. When they got to the store Lily bolted for the cookie aisle, leaving James to go get the ice cream.

"Yummmmm... Double Stuf..." Lily said as she drooled over the cookies. Suddenly an old lady walked over to her.

"Oh. When are you due m'dear" She said as she patted Lily's slightly enlarged belly.

"February..." Lily answered awkwardly. No one had ever done this before.

"I bet its a girl."

"No, it's going to be a boy."

"No, it'll be a girl."

"It's a boy."Lily said forcefully.

"But it's a girl."

"Boy"

"Girl."

"It's a boy"

"It's a girl." The lady spoke as if she knew everything causing Lily to become so angry that she picked up an package of Oreos and stomped off, holding her belly protectively. She met James at the checkout counter where he was chatting with the young woman at the cash register.

"So you sit by a window for three months when I'm not there but when I finally come back flirt with other women" Lily said with a smile in her voice, walking up behind James and putting her cookies on the counter.

"Well you know me, always trying to get rid of you." James said with a fake sigh.

"So you must be Lily" The woman said perkily.

"Yes." She turned to face her.

"Oh! So how far along are you"

"About three and a half months."

"How sweet. When did you two get married"

"Oh were getting married in December." The woman stiffened for a second and then rang up their items quickly and pushed them out the door.

"What was that about" Lily asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"She was Catholic and doesn't believe in any kind of 'procreation' before marriage."

"How do you know that"

"She said so when we were talking."

"And she actually used the word 'procreation'"

"Yup."

"Well isn't that charming." They got back to the house quickly and had just started eating their food when Cordelia walked in.

"You're going to ruin your appetite and I've made a huge feast in honor of Lily's return" She said, swooping down and giving Lily a hug before taking away the sweets.

"How did you know that I was back"

"Remus told me."

"Oh! I see."

"Well, dinner will be ready in about 15 minutes so go get ready." And she hurried back off to the kitchen. Lily and James walked up stairs to mke themselves presentable and made it to the dining room just as the food was being brought out. They all talked excitedly over dinner. Telling Lily what had been happening in her absense (nothing really...) and making small arrangements for the wedding. But it was quickly over and they all walked uietly up to bed and fell into peaceful dreams.

"SHES STILL HERE! SHES STILL HERE" James screamed as he ran downstairs the next morning. Sirius and Remus looked up from their game of wizard chess for a second replying.

"That's good to know, James." Remus said, moving his boshop to take Sirius' castle.

"You don't get it! She didn't run away again! Everytime I wake up in this house she isn't there! But shes here"

"Technically she only disappears every other day so she could be gone tommorrow." Sirius pointed out.

"Don't say that, you dolt" Remus exclaimed as he threw a book at Sirius.

"OW! Hey that hurt"

"It was supposed to"

"Shes not going to leave again. I can feel it. Shes staying this time." James concluded, sitting down in a comfy armchair

"I'm sure she is."

"Of course I am" Lily came bouncing down the stairs still in her pajamas and sat on James' lap.

"Good morning, sweetie." She said, giving James a peck on the cheek.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well"

"No."

"Why not"

"I can't sleep on my stomach, for obvious reasons, and sleeping on my side hurts so that leaves sleeping on my back which makes it exetremly difficult to breathe. So I had to settle for a mix between my back and my side which was uncomfortable but painless."

"Okay."

"But anyways! We have to get planning! We have lost three very precious months and only have three left"

"And if I may remind you, it was your fault that we lost those three months."

"Either way we still have to have all this planned by December or your mother will blow a gasket."

"What's a gasket"

"Nevermind." Lily flipped her hair over her shoulder and flicked her wand. Suddenly a large box flew through the air and landed in front of them. James leaned forward to see the the box contained catalogs. Lots and lots of catalogs. Ring catalogs, dress catalogs, flower catalogs, tux catalogs, and the list went on and on. Lily plunged her hand into the box and pulled out a catalog containing invitations.

"Okay! Let's begin"

"Is there any way out of this"

"No. You either plan or you marry someone else. Plus I'm not moving my fat butt until we've planned a suffcient amount of this wedding."

"Fine. But your butt is not fat."

"James. I've gained at least 15 pounds since you last saw me. There is no way in hell that you have not noticed it and no amount of flattery is going to get you out of planning so get your butt in gear and start looking through catalogs NOW"

James nodded meekly and started pulling out catalogs.

"Rings? No. Dresses? No. Invitations? No. Flowers? No."

"Will you just pick a flip'n magazine already" Lily said, looking at a particularly revolting set of invitaions and making a face of disgust.

"Fiesty today ,aren't we"

"Stow it, Potter." She threw a catalog at him containing different tuxes.

"Very feisty. indeed." He commented but then quickly shut his mouth when Lily threw him a death glare. Subtle expressions of amusement had settle on Remus and Sirius' faces. They sat in silence except for the occasional clinking sound as two chess pieces wrestled with eachother.

"What do you think of these, James" Lily asked, showing him a set of textured white invitations with red poinsettas in the corners.

"They would definently be appropriate."

"Why"

"Because of our Christmas Wedding. And Poinsettas _are_ the Christmas flower.

"Oh I see. Well that wasn't what I was going for but it is a plus. Anywho, I think they are perfect."

"Okay then lets go for those."

"Okay" Lily marked the page and put the magazine down on the floor. "Have you picked out the tuxes yet"

"They all look the same to me"

"You are such a baby sometimes" She complained, taking the catalog from him and looking for a few seconds before exclaiming.

"These are all completely different"

"How" James argued.

"This one is grey with a grey vest. This one is grey with a black vest. This one is black with a grey vest. This one is black with a black vest"

"Okay I get the point! SO pretty much I'm picking out colors"

"Generally."

"So what should the colors be"

"I was going for red and white. It would match the invitations and give a Christmasy feel."

"Red and White"

"Yup."

"Do you really want me dressed in red and white"

"NO! I meant that those would be the general colors for the wedding"

"Oh! So what colors should I choose" Lily sighed deeply.

"Fine! This is obviously too difficult a job for you to do through catalog so I hope you people are free tomorrow because we're all going down to a men's clothing store where you are going to pick out perfectly acceptable tuxedos for our wedding"

"Lily" Remus asked quietly.

"WHAT"

"Nevermind..."

"Good. Now I am going to go get in a nice relaxing bath because you people are making me tense" She said, climbing off of James and stomping out of the room.

"But we didn't even s" Sirius began to object. Lily stopped and glared at him and then continued out of the room and up the stairs.


	3. Chaper 3

"Lily?" James asked as he knocked lightly on the door to the bathroom. Running water could be heard through the door. "Lily are you okay?"

"Yes James, I'm okay."

"Can I come in?"

"Sure, one second." The sound of shower curtains drawing around the bath tub could clearly be heard. "Okay your good." James opened the door cautiously and hopped on the counter.

"Why is the water still running?"

"Because it's still too hot."

"What do you 'still'?"

"I mean that it's just as hot as it was ten minutes ago. Hence the word 'still'."

"But its not even steamy in here. And you always run your bath water so hot that it gets steamy."

"What can I tell ya? Its hot water."

"Can I feel it?"

"You want to feel my bath water?" Lily raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Yes. Yes, I do."

"Okay. Knock yourself out." James walked over and reached a hand through the back of the curtain before withdrawing it quickly.

"HOLY SH!"

"What's wrong?"

"First of all that water is freezing!"

"What else?"

"Huh?"

"Well you said 'first of all' which means there must be a second of all.

"Oh. I was gonna say that your foot was pruny but I thought you would already know that." Lily sighed and rolled her eyes.

"So what if the water is freezing? It feels hot to me."

"You're going to catch pneumonia!"

"No I am not."

"What if you do?"

"Then I get sick. Big deal."

"Very big deal! You're pregnant! You can't get sick while you're pregnant! You'll kill the baby!"

"But I want to take a bath!"

"I don't care! You are not going to endanger the life of our child just because you want to take a bath!"

"Fine." She pouted but pulled the stopper out of the drain none-the-less. "Are you happy?"

"Very." He pulled a lilac towel from the towel rack, unfolded it, and held it out in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting for you to get out."

"You're going to dry me off?"

"No. I'm going to make sure you get out. Now come."

"Fine." She adopted another pouty face and got out of the tub. James wrapped the towel around her and led her into their room.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Anytime you want to ruin someone's bath you can call on me."

"Stop being so pouty."

"I am not pouty!" Lily cried from the closet.

"Whatever you say."

"Good. Now since you apparently have nothing better to do we can go get your tuxes now!" She said brightly, appearing from the closet in jeans and a tank-top. James groaned.

"Fine. But you are not wearing that."

"Why not!"

"Because you are four months pregnant!"

"And?"

"You'll catch cold!"

"Its September!"

"And?"

"I like this shirt!"

"I know you do. But could you please just wear something a little bit warmer?"

"You're evil you know that?" She stepped back into the closet and digging through her clothes.

"Yes I know. It's one of my more appealing traits."

"Ha ha."

"I know I'm a riot. Now thats better." He said when she came back out in a 3/4 sleeve.

"Thank you. Now change."

"Why do I have to change?"

"Because the people at the shop would not appreciate your attire of black robes of a pair of quidditch boxer shorts."

"Oh..."

"Yeah."

"Is this better?" He waved his wand and appeared suddenly in the same black robes but black pants under them instead.

"No. Try this." Lily flicked her wand and he was in a pair of black slacks and a dress shirt.

"What!"

"Yes!"

"But, Lily!"

"Get over it James." She dragged him from the room and down the stairs where Remus was reading a book.

"Where's Sirius?" Lily asked. Remus nodded towards the kitchen without looking up.

"Thanks. Get ready to go Remus. We're going shopping."

"Okay."

"Why can't you be so agreeable, James?" She said as she pulled him into the kitchen to get Sirius.

"Because then I woldn't be me. And I'm the one you fell in love with."

"Sometimes I think that you put a spell on m-SIRIUS!" Sirius looked up from the package of oreos he had been eating.

"Whuf?" He asked, his mouth still full.

"Get out of my oreos and go get dressed! We're going shopping!"

"Awwwwwww! Lils! Do we have to?"

"Yes! Now go! And my name is not Lils!"

"Fine!" He stalked off muttering as he went. "Damn hormones..."

"I heard that!" Lily screamed as the door slammed behind him. "You have the most infuriating friends!"

"I know." James smiled.

"Lily do I have to where one of these things!" James complained three hours of trying on various tuxes.

"For the fiftieth time. Yes James."

"But its uncomfortable!"

"Your only going to be wearing it for about five hours."

"FIVE HOURS!"

"Shhhhhhh! Will you keep your voice down! Yes! Five hours! And you are going to wear it the whole time!"

"Fine." James sighed resignedly and walked into the dressing room.

"This one makes me look gay!"

"You're way too handsome to look gay. Let me see."

"No way!"

"James I've seen you after 3 straight days of no sleep. I think I can handle this." The door handle turned slowly and James poked his head.

"Do I have to?"

"James! Get your butt out here and show me the tux" James did his best to walk out with dignity but ended up tripping over a rug and falling on his face.

"This isn't funny." He mumbled. Lily clutched her hand over her mouth to keep from bursting out laughing.

"At least she's not yelling anymore!" Sirius cried from a dressing room a little ways down.

"He does present a good point."

"Shut up, Remus!" Lily took a few deep breathes to regain her composure.

"Stand up ,James." James complied and pulled himself from the ground. Lily laughed outright when she saw him from the front. The tie was tied wrong, the vest was on backwards, and the collar on the shirt was pulled up.

"I see why you thought you looked gay."

"I feel so loved."

"Shut up and come here."

"You know I don't think that is the most appropriate place to be doing this." James commented when Lily took off his jacket to fix the vest.

"Ew! Are you crazy! I'm just fixing your vest!"

"Ohhhhhh!" She undid the tie quickly and tied it correctly, buttoned his vest, and pulled the collar down over the tie.

"There!" She said as she turned him around to face a mirror.

"Hey. I don't look half bad!" 

"Of course your don't. You look very handsome."

"Wow Prongs. You clean up nice." Sirius walked out wearing only his boxers.

"Sirius! Get back in there and put some clothes on Now!"

"I thought you had stopped yelling?"

"Grrrrrr..." And he retreated back into his dressing room.

"Is it safe to come out?" Remus asked timidly.

"As long as your wearing clothes, yes."

"Good." He stepped from the room.

"You look very nice, Remus."

"Why thank you, Lily."

"How come he gets a compliment but I get laughed at?" James complained as he straightened his tie.

"Because he is dressed properly and didn't fall on his face after taking one step. Now go change again so we can get out of here."

"Thank God!"

"Okay!" Lily said as they walked through the front, the men laden with garment bags. "Now you three take those up to your rooms and HANG THEM UP. If I see one wrinkle on those during the wedding I will personally skin you alive. I have to go get Rose and Sasha. We have to go dress shopping. James, by the time I get back I want you to have picked out perspective flower arrangements, at least five, and I need you to find someone in your family that has a little girl, preferably the age of 5 but at the most 7. Got it?" James nodded absentmindedly. "Good. I'm going now and DON'T EAT MY OREOS, SIRIUS." With that she gave James a quick peck on the cheek and flooed to Sasha's apartment in London.

"Do either of you have any idea what she just said?" James asked.

"Something about Oreos."

"Okay."

Lily fell gracefully to the ground as she reached Sasha's living room.

"I hate flooing." She mumbled to herself as she dusted herself off. "Rose? Sasha? I'm here!" They both can running down the hall into the room when they heard Lily's cry.

"Lily! I haven't seen you in ages! We've missed you!" Sasha exclaimed, hugging Lily.

"I missed you, too! Now we must get going if we are going to get the dresses. Where's Rose?"

"She's in the other room. Rose! Lily's here! GET OUT HERE!" Rose came suddenly from the kitchen and hugged Lily as well. They got to the shop a little while later and immediately started trying on dresses. Since it's inappropriate to wear white to a wedding they decided to go with red dresses. Two hours later they had two red, crushed velvet dresses and matching shoes.

"JAMES HAROLD POTTER!" Lily furiously stomped back and forth across the room not bothering to hide her anger. "SIRIUS BLACK! GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!" she called again, her anger increasing with every second they kept her waiting.  
"I'm coming! I"m coming!" They cried as the two men stumbled down the stairs, followed by an interested Remus, and cautiously approached Lily, who was now putting her weight on her right leg while tapping her left foot impatiently.

"Do you know why I'm angry?" Despite her calm appearance James knew that she was boiling with anger beneath the surface. They both shook their heads timidly. Lily's eyes turned from their usual soft emerald color to a dangerous red as she pointed to the settee behind her. They leaned to the side to see behind her. There, lying in a heap on the settee, was a white garment bag.

"Whose is it..." Her voice dangerously quiet.

"How do you know it's not Remus'?" Sirius asked, for once his voice was absent of all sarcasm.

"Because Remus is responsible." Remus smiled haughtily at hid friends.

"And we're not?" James' face adopted the puppy dog eyes that usually got him what he wanted. "I'm wounded."

"You'll be more than wounded if you don't tell me whose it is right NOW!" They both looked at each other and got mischievous glints in their eyes. Turning around Sirius whispered something in James' ear causing him to nod before turning to face Lily again.

"It's mine."

"It's James'" They both said at the same time. James turned to his friend, an appalled look on his face.

"You traitor!"

"Hey, it was either you or me. She'd kill me."

"She'll kill me, too!"

"No she won't."

"You don't know that!"

"Enough!" Lily's face became commanding. "Take that garment bag and hang it up in its respective closet right now." James and Sirius scampered up the stairs leaving Lily and Remus.

"You do realize that it was mine don't you?" Remus asked her, a smile playing on his lips.

"Yeah. But its so much fun to mess with them."

Three months later Lily woke up from her restful sleep, turned towards her alarm clock, and hopped up with sudden excitement. Or at least she tried to hop up. Her belly had increased to a considerable size, giving her the appearance of someone holding a watermelon under their shirt. Her increase in weight had hindered any sudden movements that she may haved like to make. However, despite her inability to hop about the room, she was still excited. Today she was getting married. James had been sent to the other side of the house with Remus and Sirius, who had been given strict instructions to not let James see Lily at any and all costs. Lily rolled her feet off the side of the bed slowly and carefully stood up, holding her back for support. Just as she stood up there was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Come in." She called, huffing and puffing as she rested her arm against the nightstand. Rose appeared in the doorway, followed by Sasha and Cordelia.

"I'm too fat to get married!" Lily cried as she stood up straight and made her way to the bathroom.

"You'll be fine." Sasha cooed, her voice soft and reassuring.

"Fine? We're already late!" Cordelia cried, she was poring over a piece of parchment, occasionally scribbling something out. "We only have 20 minutes for breakfast so hurry up. Then we have an hour to get our hair done. Thank God we have magic otherwise it would take forever! After that we have 30 minutes to do our makeup, then 15 minutes to get dressed!"

"Calm down ,Cordelia. We'll be fine! Lily's been losing sleep lately so she probably needed to sleep in. We'll probably have time to spare since we're doing everything ourselves." Rose reasoned. Lily emerged from the other room and quickly threw on some clothes. Sasha helped Lily down the stairs, as she had difficulties getting down them by herself. In the kitchen Cordelia had eggs, bacon, toast, and an assortment of jams and jellies laid out on the table. After taking about 7 minutes to ease herself into one of the tiny chairs around the table, Lily barely had time to grab some toast with strawberry jam before having to begin to get up again. Sasha helped Lily up the stairs and then they went to her room to do their hair. After changing the hair many, many times Rose and Sasha both decided on just leaving their hair down in loose spirals curls. Lily's hair had been done into large, bouncy curls that we're tied up in a complicated bun. They then crowded around the counter in the bathroom to do their makeup.

"Your left eye is bigger than your right, Rose." Cordelia said, stepping in fron t of her and applying the eyeliner for her. Afterwards the retrieved their dresses and flooed to the hotel in Switzerland where they were having the wedding. It was beautiful. The hotel had a large garden with a gazebo in the center. A stone path snaked it way through the garden and then stopped at the steps of the gazebo, which had been decorated with sparkling icicles and tiny blue lights. They changed into their dresses when they arrived and stood by where the path curved, leaving the gazebo just out of sight. Lily's heart began to race was she clutched her bouqeut of red and white poinsettas. James had arrived sometime in the morning and was now standing in the middle of the gazebo, wringing his hands nervously.

"Do you have the rings?" He asked, turning to Sirius.  
"Yeah. It'll be fine."

"What if she jilts me?"

"Shes not going to jilt you. She loves you. You love her. Its all good." Just then the music started. James turned and watched the path anxiously. His little cousin Casey came around the bend slowly. Gently placing red petals on the ground, one by one. A few seconds later Rose and Sasha followed. James took a deep breath as he saw Lily put her foot forward and come around the bend, James' father accompanying her. She was wearing a simple, ivory wedding dress. Over it she wore a red velvet cape with a white fur trim. It started to snow quietly. As they approached the bottom of the steps Harold kissed Lily on both her cheeks and took his seat next to a crying Cordelia. Lily slowly climbed the stone steps. James smiled at her as she reached his side. She gave her bouquet to Sasha and turned to take James' hand. They both turned their heads to face the priest as he began to speak.  
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to see the joining of this man and this woman in the state of holy matrimony. Marriage is not a state to be entered into lightly, but only after much thought and consideration. If any man or woman has any logical reason why these two should not be wed, speak now, or forever hold your peace." Every remained silent. The old priest nodded and turned to James. "Do you, James Harold Potter, take Lillian Isabelle Evans as your lawful wedded wife, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward, until death part you?"

"I do."

"And do you, Lillian Isabelle Evans, take James Harold Potter as your lawful wedded husband, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward, until death part you?"

"I do."

"Do you have the rings?" Sirius gave the rings to the priest who handed them to Lily and James.

"Lily, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love, as this ring has no beginning and no end my love has no beginning and no end." With that he gently put the ring on her finger.

"James, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love, as this ring has no beginning and no end my love has no beginning and no end." Lily placed the ring on his finger.

"By the powers invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." They smiled at each other before kissing.


End file.
